Time is flying by. I recall when the clock struck midnight and we welcomed a new century back in 2000. I held my breath for the first hour wondering if a nuclear power plant was going to overheat or trains were going to derail because of Y2K code. I breathed a sigh of relief when none of those predictions came to pass. A decade later, 2010 came and went without much fanfare that I can recall, though I was likely buried in the throes of pushing Tripepi Smith forward when we still only had two employees: Nicole and me.
Now I am tracking prospective future employees who were born near the turn of this century, and being routinely reminded that a team member wasn’t yet born when I reference contemporary popular culture. Old Man Smith has arrived.
Like many, I knew back in 2000 that the Internet was going to change everything. I just did not quite know how. After all, Facebook had not been invented and Nokia was the top-selling mobile phone (the iPhone did not debut until 2007). Once 2010 came around, the iPhone 4 became the number one selling phone, mobile traffic to websites exploded and mobile-optimized content became a requirement. Nextdoor replaced Twitter (IMHO) as the second most important social media platform for cities and agencies worked to embrace social media and navigate the murky legal waters. Communications keep evolving.
Tripepi Smith has adopted an “Always Be Learning” culture to help us keep pace with change and to support our clients. Having more junior members on the team gives Tripepi Smith millennial viewpoints and digital technology savvy, while the wisdom of our more experienced members helps everyone see the big picture. Good communication requires both the wisdom one gleans from a former city manager and the insights of a 20-something. Our team is better together. And that benefits our clients.
Always Be Evolving. The way your residents communicate and gather information will change over the course of this new decade. Evolving the tools and methods used to stay connected with residents will be important. Practice. Evolve. Fail. Learn. Improve. We can do this.
Welcome to 2020,
